Democrats seek promise from John Boehner

Already seeing the possibility of another fiscal fight, Democrats sent a letter signed by 178 of their House members to Speaker John Boehner on Thursday, asking him to promise not to shut down the government again or run up against the debt ceiling deadline.

“The most powerful source of uncertainty to American families and businesses is the threat of a government shutdown and default on our debts,” the letter states. “That is why we are writing to you to urge you and your leadership to publicly declare that you will not again use the threat of a government shutdown or default as leverage in the important discussions regarding long-term deficit reduction and economic growth.”

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reset

The deal that ended the government shutdown earlier this month and avoided a debt default established another round of fiscal deadlines. Government funding will again run out in January and the debt ceiling will need to be addressed by February. In conjunction with the extensions earlier this month, Congress also created a budget negotiating panel to try to avoid another round of crisis, but there’s widespread pessimism that the group will be successful.